Chicago Radio: Steve Edwards, WBEZ’s Content Officer, Steps Down

Steve Edwards, a programming mainstay who helped transform non-com WBEZ- 91.5 FM into a highly rated local news station as chief content officer, is leaving Chicago public radio after nearly 20 years to join an executive search firm.

The Chicago Tribune reports Tracy Brown, managing editor at WBEZ, is replacing Edwards as chief content officer at the Chicago news radio station.

Managing editor Tracy Brown, who joined WBEZ in 2019 from the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, has been promoted to succeed Edwards, the station announced Friday.

“I came to WBEZ when I was 28 years old, and I was overjoyed to get the chance to work at a station that I loved, respected and revered more than any other,” said Edwards, 50. “It’s exciting to be able to pass that baton to an extraordinary talent like Tracy Brown.”

Steve Edwards, Tracy Brown

Edwards, a Kansas City native who grew up listening to public radio, started at WBEZ in 1999 as host of the daily magazine program “Eight Forty-Eight,” rising to program director in 2008. He left the station in 2012 for leadership roles at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics before returning to WBEZ as chief content officer in 2017.

During his tenure as chief content officer, WBEZ increased its commitment to local reporting, doubling the size of the newsroom and boosting its ratings into the top tier of Chicago radio stations. WBEZ was tied for fourth among all Chicago stations with a 4.7 share in March, according to Nielsen.

Edwards said beefing up the newsroom has been his most significant accomplishment at WBEZ.